


Bedtime Story

by notjustmom



Series: Box of 64 [32]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Established Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, M/M, Parentlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 13:51:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11419329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom





	Bedtime Story

They had their rituals, especially at bedtime. For some reason, Sherlock became the one to read her bedtime stories as she settled down to sleep. Most nights, it was a chapter of whatever book they were reading, from The Princess Bride, which she never tired of, or one of the books of Narnia, but as she got older, there were nights when she would crawl into bed and whisper, "Da?"

"Hmmm?" Sherlock reached for the latest book, and Rosie shook her head.

"Will you tell me a story? A true story? A you and Papa story?"

Sherlock sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. "A me and Papa story, hmmm."

"A new one."

"A new one?"

"One you haven't told me before...one when you don't figure out something."

Sherlock blinked at her uncertainly for a moment. "Did something happen at school today?"

Rosie shrugged, but didn't speak.

"Okay. A true story when I got it wrong?"

Rosie nodded and closed her eyes.

"Right. It didn't, doesn't happen very often...ah, yes. It was early on...your Papa always brings this case up when he thinks I'm being a bit arrogant."

"Arro - what?" Rosie mumbled sleepily.

"Arrogant. You know how most people think I never fail to solve a case or get it wrong?"

"Mmmmhmmm?"

"Well, when I act like I think I'm always right in a rude kind of way, that's arrogance."

"Oh, okay. Got it. Go on."

Sherlock sighed as Rosie made it clear that she was determined to stay awake through the story.

"Right then. First of all, you have to understand, I had a cold and hadn't been sleeping, and it was raining -"

"Da..." Rosie raised an eyebrow at him.

"It was a dark and stormy night - it was, I promise, and it's a good opening for a story, yes?"

"Yes, Da," Rosie giggled, then snuggled deeper under the covers.

"Your Papa was grumbling, as he always did when there was inclement weather, but it was a possible 8, after all, and it had been a couple weeks since we'd had any cases, so I was a bit miserable..."

"A bit?" Rosie snorted. Sherlock narrowed his eyes at her, but went on.

"We had a body, which is always helpful, sometimes we don't have a body, just the evidence that there was once a body -"

"Stalling."

"Tough audience tonight," Sherlock muttered to himself. "So, we had a body, but since it was raining, and the body had been in the rain in an alley for hours, not much evidence was left for me to deduce, and because I had a cold, I couldn't identify the remaining evidence that was present -"

"You couldn't smell or taste correctly." Rosie had closed her eyes, but was still listening.

"Correct."

"Fortunately, before I made a total fool of myself, your Papa identified the victim, as he was the owner of one of his favorite fish and chip carts. Unfortunately, for the victim, he liked to drink a bit after he closed up. He was on his way to dump his rubbish from the day, when he slipped on a bana -"

"A banana peel? Now I know you're just making this up."

"No, I'm being quite candid. Can you guess how he died?"

"Hmmm...You said it had been raining for hours, and if he had in fact slipped on a banana peel, and hit his head..."

"Yesss?"

"He drowned."

Sherlock beamed and kissed her forehead. "You are quite brilliant, Ro." He sat back and waited.

"My classmates think I'm arro, arrow - what was the word you used?"

"Arrogant?"

Rosie nodded and bit her lip. "It's not my fault that I'm the only person who knows all the answers."

"Of course it isn't. Sometimes it's hard when you know things."

"How did you deal with it? I'm assuming you had the same problem."

Sherlock nodded and lowered his head. "I'm not the best person to -"

"What do you wish you had done?"

"I wish I had been brave enough to try to make friends. I did try when I was younger, but after I was rebuffed quite rudely on a few occasions, I gave up, and your Uncle Mycroft tried to make it easier for me by telling me that it was better not to care what other people thought. He is right to a certain extent, but sometimes you have to find a way to let your guard down enough to let people know you are more than just the facts you know."

"But, Da, what else am I?"

Sherlock sighed and looked in her eyes, about to overflow. "You are funny, a lovely dancer, a brilliant artist, you have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met, and you come from some of the strongest and best people I know. You deserve to be loved, Ro, I hope you always remember that."

"Thanks, Da. You always know how to make me feel better."

"Good. Now, time to close your eyes. Sleep sweet."

"Night, Da."

 

John looked up from his laptop as Sherlock walked into their room. "Banana peel story?"

Sherlock nodded as he undressed, then all but fell into bed. "It was all I could think of, I still remember Lestrade's face when you interrupted me, I never would have heard the end of it if I had tried to solve that one."

"What is it? There's something else."

Sherlock sighed and glanced over at John. "She asked me... she thought she was asking something else, but basically, she asked me how to make friends. She wanted to know how not to be alone."

John nodded and waited.

"And I told her I wasn't the best person to ask, but that she should try to let her peers see the other parts of her, she's not just a brain, she's not simply the facts that she has compiled in her 9 years, and I told her she deserved to be loved." Sherlock paused and closed his eyes. "I don't want her to be like me, John. I don't want her to spend her life alone -"

"She won't. Look at me, please?"

Sherlock opened his eyes and met John's dark smiling eyes. 

"You and Rosie are so very special and you are both so very loved. And you are no longer alone, love. Don't forget that."

"Even after all these years, John, sometimes I can still remember what it was like when I was Rosie's age, and I forget that I'm not that person anymore. Sometimes I need to be reminded."

John laid his laptop aside and pulled Sherlock into his arms. "As long as I am still on this earth, Sherlock, you will never be alone again." 


End file.
